The
Philippine Revolution Against Spain

1996
is a significant year for Filipinos all over the world.
It marks the centennial of the Philippine Revolution,
which started in 1896 and officially ended in 1902.
The amount of literature generated during and after
the Revolution, coupled with the continuing fascination
on this period by historians and alike which have produced
an infinite number of scholarly works, have validated
the widespread perception that this was the most glorious
page in the history of the Filipino people. The Philippine
Revolution ended more than three centuries of Spanish
colonial rule which began when Miguel
Lopez de Legazpi founded the settlement of Cebu,
the oldest Philippine city, in 1565. The Revolution
is also heralded as the first anti-colonial independence
movement in Asia. The Filipino proclamation of their
independence two years after the outbreak of the Revolution
was a momentous event for Filipinos of all persuasion.
The Revolution began with the masses through the Katipunan,
a secret, revolutionary, mass-based organization, and
was later embraced by the middle class. Indeed, the
Revolution was one of the few times where there was
a convergence in the nationalist movements of the masses
and the elite.